Dates For The 2021 WWE Draft Revealed

The 2021 WWE Draft will reportedly be held after SummerSlam. The previous two drafts were held in October

The dates for the upcoming 2021 WWE Draft are reportedly set.

According to a report from Andrew Zarian of Mat Men Pro Wrestling Podcast, the WWE Draft will be held on the Aug. 30 and Sept. 1 episodes of Monday Night Raw (in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) and Friday Night SmackDown (in Jacksonville, Florida), respectively. These are the final two dates for WWE’s 25-city tour that will commence with the July 16 episode of SmackDown at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.

Earlier this month, Zarian reported that the draft would be held after SummerSlam, set for Aug. 21 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada. The last two drafts have been held in October. Previously, the WWE Draft was usually held in April after WrestleMania weekend.

Instead of the draft format, WWE ran a Superstar Shake-Up every year from 2017 to 2019, with a handful of wrestlers switching brands. But instead of simply moving a small number of superstars around, the format changed in 2019 after SmackDown moved to Friday nights on FOX. All of the main roster talents enter the draft and are either selected by Raw or SmackDown. Those who aren’t drafted become “free agents” and can sign with any promotion.

It has been reported that major changes will be coming to WWE after they return to performing in live crowds. On top of the WWE Draft, it sounds like we’ll see Hall of Famer Edge and John Cena return for SummerSlam season.

Post-SummerSlam is the ideal time to run this year’s WWE Draft. As noted above, the draft usually took place following WrestleMania, so why not run it after another marquee pay-per-view like SummerSlam? It will lead to more more excitement and anticipation towards the end of the summer holidays. The draft is exactly what WWE needs to shake up the product, and they have no reason to wait until October this year.

Source: The Sportster

Impact Wrestling Preview 6/24/21

Tonight on Impact on AXS TV:

* Impact World Tag Team Championship: Violent By Design (Joe Doering & Deaner) (c) vs. Satoshi Kojima & Eddie Edwards

* Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo vs. Susan in a non-title match

* Knockouts Tag Champion Kiera Hogan vs. Rosemary

* Rohit Raju & Shera vs. Petey Williams & Trey Miguel

* Decay (Crazzy Steve & Black Taurus) vs. TJP & Fallah Bahh will kick things off on Before The Impact at 7 PM ET!

“Super Genie” Melissa Coates Passes Away

“Super Genie” Melissa Coates has passed away at age 50, according to the Cauliflower Alley Club.

Coates was trained at Killer Kowalski’s school in Massachusetts and also trained at Rick Bassman’s UPW Academy.

During her pro wrestling career, Coates wrestled in OVW and Deep South Wrestling. She appeared at the 2005 WWE Backlash PPV, where she attempted to break out of Chris Masters’ Masterlock Challenge.

It was in 2014 when Coates began managing Sabu as Super Genie. She appeared with him in Impact Wrestling as well as several promotions.

Before her professional wrestling career, she was in two seasons of GSN’s Extreme Dodgeball. 

In late 2020, Coates was forced to undergo an amputation of her leg. A GoFundMe campaign was launched to help her with medical expenses.

https://twitter.com/CACReunion/status/1407872540165525504
Super Genie" Melissa Coates Has Passed Away

Mickie James To Wrestle On The NWA 73rd Anniversary PPV

Mickie James will return to the ring on the NWA 73rd Anniversary pay-per-view in August.

The NWA recently announced that James had joined the company and will be executive producing the all-women’s NWA Empower pay-per-view on Saturday, August 28 from the Chase Ballroom in St. Louis. She has said she will not wrestle that night. It was believed that Mickie would wrestle at the NWA 73rd Anniversary pay-per-view the next night, at the same venue, and now that has been confirmed.

James hosted an Instagram Live video this week to announce the return to the ring. She noted that she is looking for an opponent, and wants fans to share potential opponents with NWA owner Billy Corgan.

James also talked about the Empower pay-per-view, noting that she is still looking for unsigned women’s wrestlers to send in their tapes and promos to mickiejamesproject@gmail.com if they’d like to potentially work the show.

James was released from her WWE contract back in mid-April along with other budget cuts, and will become a free agent after Wednesday, July 14 when her 90-day non-compete expires. James has not wrestled since the 30-Woman Royal Rumble Match back in January. Before that, her last singles match was the loss to Zelina Vega on the September 1, 2020 RAW.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Roderick Strong Returns To NXT As Leader Of The Diamond Mine

Roderick Strong returned to NXT for the first time in three months and revealed himself as the leader of the much-hyped Diamond Mine.

It all went down in the Capitol Wrestling Center on the most recent edition of NXT on USA Network. Strong’s former Undisputed Era colleague Kyle O’Reilly had just defeated NXT Cruiserweight Champion Kushida in a non-title main event when Adam Cole appeared. Cole and O’Reilly began to scuffle, his was the cue to NXT’s new enforcer Samoa Joe to intervene with his team of peacekeepers.

While Joe and his peacekeepers were distracted with Cole and O’Reilly, three mystery assailants entered the ring and began attacking Kushida. IT soon became clear that the chief assailant was the returning Roderick Strong who was flanked by NXT newcomer Tyler Rust, and Japanese veteran Hideki Suzuki.

Manager Malcolm Bivens then joined the three men and introduced them as the Diamond Mine.

https://twitter.com/WWEonFOX/status/1407527351966175232

As you might recall, Roderick Strong was last seen in NXT back in April when he appeared to resign from the brand after struggling to adapt to life as a solo performer in the wake of The Undisputed Era’s breakup.

Strong handed NXT General Manager William Regal his letter of resignation but was informed that he’d be welcome back anytime. It seems that Strong’s solution to no longer being a member of a stable was to start his own.

Source: The Sportster

WWE NXT Preview 6/22/21

A loaded line-up has been announced for tonight’s WWE NXT episode on the USA Network.

* Samoa Joe appears live after returning last week

* Million Dollar feud between Cameron Grimes and Million Dollar Champion LA Knight will continue after WWE Hall of Famer Ted DiBiase was attacked by Knight last week

* NXT Cruiserweight Champion Kushida vs. Kyle O’Reilly in a non-title match

* Adam Cole will be in action

* The encore of Franky Monet’s recent World Premiere

* The Diamond Mind opens up

* Hit Row vs. Ever-Rise

* More build for Great American Bash

[Report] Backstage Details On Major Changes Coming In WWE When Crowds Return

Several changes to the WWE product are reportedly on the horizon as they await the return of live crowds.

According to Paul Davis of WrestlingNews.co, Edge and John Cena “are expected” to return next month to prepare for SummerSlam — set for Aug. 21 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada. Reports indicate that Cena will face Universal Champion Roman Reigns in the main event of SummerSlam, while the Rated-R Superstar is reportedly set to feud with Seth Rollins.

Davis also reported that The Bella Twins, who were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this year, are also “getting ready to return.” According to Davis, some in WWE also hope to have The Rock wrestle at Survivor Series as a way to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his debut with the company.

Last week, WrestlingNews.co also reported that WWE chairman Vince McMahon knows “the product is stale.” The report also noted that some in WWE management believe they’re saving the “good stuff” for the live crowds. WWE will begin a 25-city tour on July 16, when SmackDown runs live at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.

Davis also noted that it looks like Becky Lynch will return soon. The former Raw and SmackDown Women’s Champion was at the Performance Center last week, supposedly to get ready for a return to the ring. Lynch has been on leave since May of last year. Lynch and Seth Rollins had their first child together, a daughter named Roux, in Decembe

WWE is also reportedly working on Brock Lesnar’s return. He hasn’t been on WWE programming since WrestleMania 36 14 months ago.

There is a need for some changes, and having major stars return will obviously help enhance the television product. With live crowds set to return, it’s the perfect time for WWE to bring in the required changes.

Source: The Sportster

WWE RAW Preview 6/21/21

Tonight’s WWE RAW will feature fallout from Sunday’s Hell In a Cell pay-per-view.

WWE has not announced any matches for tonight’s show, but the first real build for Money In the Bank should begin. That pay-per-view will take place on July 18.

Will WWE Champion Bobby Lashley gets an idea of his next challenger on tonight’s show, and will he celebrates his Hell In a Cell win over Drew McIntyre?

The Charlotte Flair vs. RAW Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley feud should also continue tonight as their match at Hell In a Cell ended with Flair winning via DQ.

Brock Lesnar Reportedly Talking With WWE

Brock Lesnar and WWE have been in recent talks about Lesnar making his return to the company, according to Fightful.

The report noted WWE has plans in place for the WWE Superstar and are hoping his return could be imminent. No word on when he’ll be on WWE TV though.

His WWE contract reportedly expired last August without the two sides agreeing on new terms and, at that time, Lesnar’s merchandise was removed from WWE Shop. It was expected Lesnar would eventually return to WWE, despite not re-signing.

His most recent appearance was at WrestleMania 36 when he lost the WWE Championship to Drew McIntyre.

With SummerSlam nearly sold out, it was previously noted WWE is looking to put together a WrestleMania-level PPV that would likely include Lesnar. This year’s PPV is on Saturday, August 21 from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.

It was reported earlier this month WWE was considering Lesnar vs. WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns at SummerSlam.

There has been some talk of a possible Lesnar vs WWE Champion Bobby Lashley at SummerSlam.

WWE Hell In A Cell Results 6/20/2021

KICKOFF
WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Natalya defeated Mandy Rose

WWE SMACKDOWN WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP (HELL IN A CELL)
Bianca Belair (c) defeated Bayley

Seth Rollins defeated Cesaro

Alexa Bliss defeated Shayna Baszler

Sami Zayn defeated Kevin Owens

WWE RAW WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Charlotte defeated Rhea Ripley (c) via Disqualification (Ripley retains the title)

WWE CHAMPIONSHIP (HELL IN A CELL)
Bobby Lashley (c) with MVP defeated Drew McIntyre (McIntyre can’t challenge Lashley for the title again.)